IN

5

ACTS

Rational Astrology The View from the Middle

A CONVERSATION

For those who are willing to approach any subject rationally,

that is, neither being blindly in favor nor hysterically against…

This is a view from the middle, neither black nor white, but in

shades of gray.

Day 1

Welcome! You just walked in on a conversation between Mr Skeptic

and Ms Believer. Maybe you already know a fair deal about the

topic of their discussion; maybe you know nothing at all. Either way,

you are here because you are curious about what they are speaking.

Yes? – Perhaps, a little curious? No, curiosity isn’t such a bad thing

after all – not for cats, neither for humans. It has yielded us

centuries of progress, for good or for bad. So let us join them

without further ado, making a mental note to suspend our

opinions, keeping aside the little biases and prejudices that we all

carry, until we have heard them out.

S So you are an astrologer – one of those who can read my life

and predict what’s going to happen to me tomorrow?

B Actually, no one can really predict your future – not me, not

any other astrologer, no one. The idea that the future can be

precisely foretold implies one of two things – that either I

can read your mind, so I know what you are going to do, or

that you are a dummy, a puppet, sitting helplessly while

someone or something (a supernatural power or fate or what

you will) pulling strings does things to you or makes you act

in a pre-determined manner, willingly or unwillingly – and

both are false as far as we know. There is no evidence that

telepathy (mind reading) works, so relax, your private

thoughts are safe with you. Equally well, there is no evidence

of a supernatural power running (or ruining) your life for

you. Indeed, if I were stupid enough to venture a prediction,

it would be quite easy for you to prove me wrong. For

instance, if I were to predict that you would be out traveling

tomorrow, all you need do is lock yourself up at home and

stoutly refuse to set foot outside your door. And there! Or, if

you prefer the macabre, I could predict a long life for you

and just to prove me wrong you could walk into a busy

expressway.

S Ha, ha! No, thank you. But I am glad that for an astrologer you

seem to be debunking astrology.

B Not really. Let me give you a real-life anecdote. A friend’s

father had been warned by his astrologer that he faced the

risk of drowning in the near future. The gentleman was

traveling on work and had to cross a river by ferry. The

crossing would take less than an hour. The alternative was a

winding mountain road that would take 18 hours. As the

ferry was about to set off, the astrologer’s words came to

him, and he insisted on getting off and taking the road. His

two colleagues were reluctant but finally agreed and they

disembarked with their luggage. The ferry left and shortly

after, within their range of vision, it sank and everyone

aboard perished. So, when an astrologer “makes a

prediction,” she is only telling you what possibly lies ahead;

the decisions are all yours. There are those who attack

astrology by claiming that making predictions means that

everything is preordained and hence implies that there is no

place for free will. They are completely off course. Just as you

seek a financial planner’s advice before investing in the stock

market, you could get an astrologer’s counsel before taking

decisions about your life. So you can call me a life planner if

you wish. And just as there are folks who play the stock

market without expert advice, you could run your life without

a life planner. Either way, the decisions are yours and yours

alone. Astrology does not displace free will.

S And you claim you can plan my life and forewarn me of dangers

lurking ahead by looking at the stars?

B Kind of, but we will qualify that later. What matters

is the position of the planets at the moment of

your birth. If you tell me your date of birth, the

place of birth and the precise time of birth (within

a couple of minutes either way), I can draw up

your astrological chart (also called a horoscope).

Actually, you could do that yourself using any

software freely available on the web. It will show

you the positions of the planets, roughly along a

plane called the ecliptic plane, in terms of their

angular position given by an angle between 0 and

360 degrees. Mind you, this is just plain, simple

astronomy1 – there are no two ways about it. And

you can have your horoscope. What does the

horoscope signify? Let me give you an analogy.

Imagine a car rally where you turn up with your

own car. The organizers give you a map of your

route – the map shows you the ups and downs,

the highs and the lows, the easy stretches and the

bad patches. The horoscope is the route map of

your life. It marks out what you may expect at

critical junctures of your life. You can choose to

junk it and take the rally as it comes, or you can

get an astrologer to help you navigate. The choice

is yours.

S Whoa! This raises so many questions. Looks like everyone born

on the same date, at the same place, and about the same time

will have a common route map. So by comparing their

experiences it should be possible to verify or disprove your

statement.

B Yes, but remember that the horoscope does not uniquely

determine the future. The car you are driving (your family

and upbringing) and the driver (yourself) also matter. Even if

two persons have the same horoscope, the values they

imbibe and the experiences they have as they grow up

influence them and their decisions later in life. Even in the

case of twins, with the same family and if you assume an

identical upbringing, though they may have shared

experiences as children, as they grow up and begin to take

their own decisions, obviously their lives will diverge.

Astrology takes a holistic view of life including nature,

nurture and free will.

S At this rate, I wonder if you can make any astrological prediction

at all. Yet you insist on calling astrology a science… After all, the

hallmark of science is the ability to make verifiable predictions.

B For starters, personally, I am not too concerned about

whether astrology is called a science or not. But let me take

the bait. You will agree that not all the sciences are the same.

Yes, with some of the natural sciences, one can make 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic

predictions and verify them by repeatable experiments. But

as the number of elements involved in the phenomenon

increases, as the complexity of their interactions increases,

and as the uncertainty of our knowledge about them and

about external factors that affect them increases, predictions

become increasingly difficult. For example, the weather. Yet

we talk of climate science. The engineering sciences are full

of probabilities and empirical models that we don’t really

understand, but we use them because “they work.” Once you

come to sciences dealing with living organisms, predictions

become even rarer. For instance, here is a quote from This is

Biology, The Science of the Living World by Ernst Mayr

(1997): "Predictions in biology are at best probabilistic,

owing to the great variability of most biological phenomena

and owing to the occurrence of contingencies and

multiplicity of interacting factors that affect the course of

events. For the biologist, it is not so important that his

theory survive the test of prediction, it is more important

that his theory is useful in solving problems." Predictions are

of even lesser importance in medical science – no one goes

to a doctor to hear her prediction, they just want to get

cured. Predictions are almost impossible when dealing with

an intelligent human mind – think of psychology, a science.

And if dealing with a single human mind was not daunting

enough, consider the sciences that deal with the masses –

social sciences, political science, and economics. In my

personal opinion, an astrologer’s “prediction” has a better

shot at turning out right than an economist’s. Notice how

two doctors or two economists can legitimately disagree on

the correct course of treatment of a patient or a financial

crisis, and there is often no way to settle the issue but to wait

it out. If you insist, I would place astrology as a science

roughly at par with psychology.

S Be that as it may. You claim to draw up a route map of my life

based on the position of the planets at the time of my birth. But

scientists have clearly said that there is no way in which the

planets can affect any of us living here on Earth. So there is no

scientific basis for astrology.

B Well, firstly astrology does not claim that the planets directly

influence our lives. Frankly, we don’t know, and if we did in

the past, that knowledge has been lost. So right now we can

think of the planetary positions as a model that enables us

to calculate your life’s route map. Finding a scientific basis is

going to need research and possibly collaboration between

astrologers, natural scientists and medical experts. Secondly,

it is not as if scientists have all the answers about their own

fields. By their own admission, over 95% of the matter in the

universe is not accounted for, and the best we have so far is

a wildly speculative story about dark matter and dark energy

without a pinch of evidence. Besides when scientists claim

that there is no known cosmic effect on humans, they are

being economical with the truth. The fact is that there are

interactions; it is just that they do not know much about the

effects yet. For instance, it is known that every second we are

being bombarded by billions of neutrinos from the sun (solar

neutrinos) and from outer space (cosmic neutrinos). These

are tiny particles that were assumed to be mass-less and

appeared to pass through all matter without any interaction,

but some years ago it was discovered that they do possess a

very tiny mass, and hence must interact even if feebly with

other matter. There may be other effects that we have never

figured out so far. So to conclude in haste that there is no

cosmic or solar effect on our life is premature and frankly

unscientific.

S Wow! You seem to be well informed about scientific matters,

though I doubt whether your argument will cut any ice with the

scientific community.

B As scientists, we are supposed to think rationally. Before we

accept or disclaim anything, we are required to examine the

evidence impartially and draw our own conclusions

objectively. Just as I have read, listened to and thought

about other disciplines at length, one would expect other

scientists to make an honest attempt to appraise astrology

before making up their minds. Sadly most of them seem to

succumb to the peer pressure to berate astrology even as

they remain totally ignorant about it. I suppose it is

fashionable in some scientific circles to sneer at astrology,

but it would be nice to see less arrogance and more humility,

less prejudice and more rationality.

S But, you know, people have conducted scientific studies and

shown that astrology does not pass the test.

B By the same token, I could collect a bunch of scientists and

set them a problem to solve. If the majority of them fail, I

could conclude that the science itself was flawed. How much

sense does that make? Or give a doctor a bunch of blood

test reports and ask her to predict how many of them would

die of cancer. If she doesn’t hit bull’s eye (which is very

likely), I could conclude that blood tests were worthless. Bad

science unfortunately is all too common. It would be so

much nicer if these scientists actually bothered to

understand astrology before passing judgment. For all you

know, they may find a hint or a clue that might show them a

way out of an impasse in their own field.

S I would be very surprised if any of them were to take up your

invitation. I am not too convinced either right now but I am

sufficiently intrigued by what you say to want to learn more. Can

you recommend some reading for me? And I hope to meet you

again after I am more ‘literate’ in your subject.

B That’s nice. I don’t expect you to jump ship so soon, but just

to keep an open mind. I would recommend the books by the

famous Indian astrologer, B V Raman, but, mind you, I don’t

blindly accept everything that he says in there. And I will be

glad to meet with you again and carry this conversation

forward.

Day 2

Another day, another setting, same persona – Mr S, may be a shade

less unbending, and Ms B, perhaps not as strident as earlier.

S Well, I have been reading a lot and thinking quite a bit, but

much of this simply does not make sense to me. I am happier

dealing with numbers but there is no math in here at all.

B Ha, ha! That can soon be rectified. Let us start by

cutting up the ecliptic plane into boxes of 30

degrees each – that is, 12 boxes in all. You don’t

really need to do this, but it is a convenience. Here

we are, 12 boxes, all marked with the angle in

degrees, from 0 to 330. 360 degrees brings us

back to 0. Now we ink in the location of the

planets between 0 and 360 degrees at the

moment of your birth as seen from the place

where you were born.

S I am not sure I am ready to let you unravel my secrets yet. Why

don’t we work with a friend’s horoscope instead?

B That’s somewhat like taking a friend’s blood test

report to a doctor and asking her for a diagnosis.

Anyway, let’s humor you for now. You need to tell

me the location of the 5 planets – Mercury, Venus,

Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn – and the Sun, the

Moon, and the lunar nodes 2 (called Rahu and

Ketu). That’s 8 of them in all, since Ra and Ke are

always diametrically opposite each other.

S What about Uranus and Neptune? And I thought Rahu and Ketu

were mythological.

B My guess is that the visible 7 – Su, Mo, Me, Ve, Ma, Ju, Sa –

are the dominant factors. Everything else – the outer planets,

dwarf planets, satellites, meteors, comets, and the rest – is

lumped into a “correction term” which is placed at the lunar

nodes. If true, this would be a lovely ancient application of a

classical mathematical technique. I think this basic construct

2 www.earthview.com/images/46-600.jpg

predates religion and mythology – those I suspect were built

around this at a later date.

S Who knows? Anyway, here are the 8 planets and their angular

positions in degrees.

B OK, thanks. Now I have placed them in the correct

boxes along the ecliptic plane. Notice that Ve and

Mo are very close together; in fact, less than a

degree apart. Me and Su are pretty close together

too. Generally, planets within 5-7 degrees of each

other can be considered to have strongly paired

up. Ju is just over 12 degrees away from the Ke-Ra

axis, so we can take that to be a weak pairing. Ma

and Sa are separately on their own. That gives you

a general idea of the layout of the planets in this

horoscope.

S And that lets you draw conclusions about this person? I must

say it all sounds rather weird.

S Hold your horses and soon all will be revealed.

Next I must tell you that the planets are classified

as naturally benefic and naturally malefic. What

this means is that by themselves some of them

suggest good and some indicate bad. But their

benefic or malefic nature can get modified by

other factors which we shall see later. Ju, Mo, and

Ve are the natural benefics whereas Sa, Ma, and

Su are naturally malefic. Me may be taken as

naturally neutral. Ra and Ke are benefic, malefic or

neutral depending on their position. The boxes

where Ra/Ke are benefic (green), malefic (red) or

neutral (white) are marked alongside. In your

friend’s case, the location of Ra in green and Ke in

red means Ra is benefic and Ke is malefic. You can

call this the base state or the starting point – your

pal starts off with 4 benefics, 4 malefics and 1

neutral planet. Then we build on this start.

S What next?

B Next we need to judge the strength of the

planets given their arrangement in a

particular horoscope. There are 4 factors

which go into judging the strength of each

planet. The first of these is their position

along the ecliptic. Each planet has certain

positions where it is strong and others

where it is weak. There may also be some

positions where it is neither weak nor

strong. The chart shows the strong

positions for each planet in Green and weak

positions in Red. Unmarked positions are

neither weak nor strong. The positions for

Ke are just the reverse of that for Ra, so

they are not separately shown.

S And is there some kind of logic to

decide these strong and weak positions?

B May be there is but I have never

come across it so far. It would

certainly be an interesting topic for

research. Let’s figure out the

positional strengths of the planets

for your friend. Green is strong, red is

weak, and a blank is neither.

Planet Positional

Strength

Conjunction Aspects Others

(Flanking, etc.)

Ju

Mo

Ve

Ra

Me

Ke

Su

Ma

Sa

S Why don’t you use numbers instead of these buttons, +1 for

Green and -1 in place of Red? All these colored buttons makes it

look like a marketing survey or an airport departure information

screen.

B Ha, ha! That will sure make engineers like you happy but I

would like to make this accessible to a much larger audience.

Besides once you tire of engineering and go into

management, guess what you will be sticking up on your

charts! Still, if you like, we can start using half-circles for

lesser effects and full circles for more significant effects.

S Well, that’s a deal. But how did you figure out I am an engineer?

B Obviously you are not a scientist or you would have had

existential issues in even talking with me. So I figured you

were the lesser of the two evils – an engineer! Plenty smart,

aren’t I?

S Yeah, very smart for an astrologer. Shall we continue with the

class, ma’am?

B Right, next we look for strength or weakness due to

conjunction – the close association of two or more planets.

In general, hanging around with a good planet brings

strength and the company of a malefic planet makes one

weak. Common sense, huh? We can give full circles to

conjunctions within 5-7 degrees of each other, and anything

more than that up to 13-15 degrees gets a part circle. So, in

case of your friend, Mo and Ve gain by each other’s

company, Me loses by being too close to Su, and Ju is partly

affected by association with Ke, whereas Ke partly gains by

having Ju nearby. So, here’s the updated chart.

Planet Positional

Strength

Conjunction Aspects Others

(Flanking, etc.)

Ju Ke

Mo Ve

Ve Mo

Ra

Me Su

Ke Ju

Su

Ma

Sa

S All right, this is beginning to look interesting. What’s next?

B Next, we consider aspects – most planets “look at” others

that lie diametrically opposite them, but some planets have

additional aspects. This chart lists all of them. Ra and Ke

have no aspect.

Planet Acute aspect 180 deg aspect Obtuse aspect

Su, Mo, Me, Ve No Yes No Sa 60° Yes 270° Ma 90° Yes 210° Ju 120° Yes 240°

Again, we don’t really know the basis for this. As in the case

of conjunctions, aspects that are bang on (say, within 5-7

degrees) get a full circle, and grazing aspects (more than

that and up to 13-15 degrees) get a part circle. Aspect of

benefics gives strength and aspect by a malefic makes one

weak. So, this is how your friend’s chart looks after we have

added the aspects in. Also we consider other effects, such as

flanking, for instance. A planet that is flanked by two

benefics on either side gains strength. Likewise, a planet

flanked by malefics becomes weak, e.g., Su, Me gain by

being flanked by Ve-Mo and Ju. There may be some other

effects that we have ignored, but this is good enough for

now.

Planet Positional

Strength

Conjunction Aspects Others

(Flanking, etc.)

Ju Ke Sa

Mo Ve

Ve Mo

Ra Ju

Me Su Ve-Mo, Ju

Ke Ju

Su Ve-Mo, Ju

Ma

Sa

We can now sum up the effects and move the planets up if

they are strong and down if they are weak, like this. Thus, Ve,

Mo and Su have gained strength, and Ra and Ke are

marginally strong. On the other side, Me, Ma and Sa have

become weak and Ju is marginally weak too. The reasons for

their strength or weakness can be found from the chart with

Green and Red buttons. Also, I have arranged the planets in

terms of the extent of their natural benefic or natural malefic

nature – the ones further to the left in Green are more

benefic and the ones further to the right in Red are more

malefic.

S That seems to have come out quite nicely. But what does it

mean for a planet to be strong or weak?

B Generally speaking, a stronger planet has a greater impact

on a certain facet of one’s life than a weaker planet, provided

both of them influence that particular facet. Also each planet

is a signifier of certain attributes, and the stronger it is, the

better the prospect of that attribute being positive.

S So you are saying that Ve, Mo and Su are the big players in my

friend’s horoscope. But you still cannot say anything definitive

about her at this stage?

B Her (grinning)? No, not yet. You see, we need to consider 5

different inputs before we can draw a conclusion about any

attribute (say, intelligence). Right now, we have only one –

the strength of the signifier. So it is early days yet.

S Fine, thank you. I think I need a break. So shall we call it a day

and schedule another meeting later?

B Sure, I am glad you are still eager to know more. Bye for

now!

Day 3

The same cast of two, but do we sense a thaw in the air?

S Hi! You are looking good today.

B Thanks. That must be afterglow of the morning yoga session.

So, are you ready to analyze your girlfriend’s horoscope?

S Hey! I don’t have a girlfriend, OK? And I am curious to know

what you are up to – all these buttons and still no light at the

end of the tunnel.

B OK, OK. No need to get antsy. I hope you realize that

astrology is serious business, not mumbo-jumbo. Today let

me start by telling you that every planet represents different

attributes. I have listed the key ones here with the strength

or weakness of each planet in case of your friend.

Planet Key attributes Strength/

Weakness

in this case

Ju wisdom (philosophy), progeny,

leadership (spiritual, religious)

Mo mind (emotion, romance), mother, the

seas (as in journeys overseas)

Ve creativity, spouse, bodily pleasures

Ra affliction (accidents), alien (culture,

religion), discovery/invention

Me intelligence, commerce (as in

business/trade), speech

Ke the spiritual, release of the soul

(moksha), lies/deception

Su soul (atma), father, leadership (political)

Ma aggression, siblings, courage

Sa misfortune (injuries, sorrows), evil

(purpose, thinking), low status

S And you assert that the red button for Me does not imply that

she is stupid?

B Yeah, what’s the hurry? The red button implies that Me is

weak, so for an attribute like intelligence which Me signifies,

its contribution is poor. But there are other players and we

need to evaluate all of them together. Let’s get on with the

job. Next you need to tell me the position of the Ascendant

in her horoscope. The Ascendant is the location of the

eastern horizon on the ecliptic plane at the time of birth.

S All right, here it is.

B Good, and now I add this to the other planets

on the ecliptic, like here. The box with the

Ascendant (As) is numbered ‘1’ and the other

boxes are numbered in a clockwise order as

marked from ‘1’ to ’12’. Each box is called a

house.

S What’s the deal with As? Why does he get to

choose which house is the 1st?

B Well, the As is the fastest guy on the block; he

does a lap of the ecliptic in a day. That is a flat

2 hours per house. As for the others, well here’s

the list. You can see that Mo is the next fastest

taking about a month for 1 lap. The Su takes a

year whereas the outer planets – Ma, Ju, Sa –

take much longer. The lunar nodes, Ra, Ke,

take around 18.5 years to make a lap of the

ecliptic. Ideally speaking, there’s no reason why

we should not consider the other time scales as

well. Which means that we should ideally

analyze each horoscope from different points

of view – one each with As in the 1st house, Mo

in the 1st house, and so on. But that may take

forever. So usually we consider only the two

fastest ones – the As- and the Mo-centric

points of view. And since you are in a hurry, for

your friend, we shall restrict ourselves to the

As.

S Phew! Thank you. Sometimes I wonder if we are ever going to

get there at all. What happens if the As-centric and Mo-centric

evaluations turn out to be grossly different? How do you

conclude anything at all then?

B Good question. In my opinion, the As-centric version relates

to the logical self whereas the Mo-centric one gives the

emotional self. So if you knew the subject was largely a

logical person, or largely an emotional one, then you could

Planet Time for 1 lap around the ecliptic

As 1 day

Mo ~1 month

Su, Ve, Me 1 year

Ma ~2 years

Ju ~12 years

Ra, Ke ~18.5 years

Sa ~29.5 years

pick only the appropriate point of view and ignore the other.

Otherwise, you could do an average of the two, or just go

with the As.

S You don’t have a medical analogy for this?

B Ummm… not yet, but I will work on one now.

S So for someone born a couple of hours later, the As would have

moved into the next house, and that will then be his 1st house

and the other houses follow in a clockwise manner?

B Perfect. I see you are beginning to get the hang of this.

S Hardly. But I used to think the house numbers were fixed. You

know, the 1st house being the one between 0 and 30° (called

Aries), and so on.

B That may be the case in Western astrology which is

unfortunately both numerically and fundamentally flawed.

For instance, according to the Western system, as per her

date of birth your friend’s Sun sign should be Aries (0-30°)

but in reality as you can see, the Su at 344°36’ actually lies in

the previous box (called Pisces). In fact, when many scientists

find fault with astrology, they are referring to the Western

system – the only one they are aware of.

S If they knew of your system, I bet they would find fault with it

too.

B Firstly, it is not my system; it is something that has been

handed down to us over millennia. Secondly, instead of

finding fault, I would appreciate if they joined hands to

figure out the basis for some of our practices whose

rationale has been lost to us over the years. Anyway, shall we

return to your friend for now?

S Certainly. What else do you have for us today?

B One more thing you need to know. Each house has

an owner or lord as indicated here. Sa, Ju, Ma, Ve

and Me, each own two houses, and Su and Mo

own one each. This is common for all, irrespective

of the individual horoscope. But then depending

on where the As is located, the planets become

lords of different house numbers. Thus, in your

friend’s case, Ma is lord of 1 and 6, Ju owns 2 and

5, Sa lords over 3 and 4, Ve owns 7 and 12, Me is

lord of 8 and 11, Mo has 9 and Su owns 10.

Planets become benefic by owning certain houses

and malefic by becoming lords of some others.

Planets may gain (become benefic) or lose

(become malefic) by associating with other

planets. Likewise, when they get the aspect of

other planets. And there are other special

occurrences, such as exchange of houses between

planets (for example, 4th lord in the 9th house and

vice versa) that can help or mar a planet. It would

be too much to list all the rules here – better refer

a book like the one you have been reading – but

let us enumerate all this for the case of your friend.

S Not more Green and Red buttons?

B Sure, why not? I am beginning to like them. Don’t you? So

here goes…

Planet Ownership Conjunction

with

Aspected by Others

(Exchange, etc.)

Ju 2nd

, 5th

3rd

, 4th

(Sa)

Mo 9th

7th

, 12th

(Ve) exchange with

4th

lord

Ve 7th

, 12th

9th

(Mo)

Ra -- 2nd

, 5th

(Ju)

Me 8th

, 11th

10th

(Su)

Ke -- 2nd

, 5th

(Ju)

Su 10th

8th

, 11th

(Me)

Ma 1st, 6

th

Sa 3rd

, 4th

exchange with

9th

lord

S The Green button again means Stronger and the Red buttons

imply Weaker?

B No, we already gauged their strength and weakness earlier,

remember? The stronger ones went up on a chart and the

weaker ones fell down. These Green and Red buttons further

add to the benefic or malefic nature that we had marked on

the chart. Take a look at it again, if you like. The benefics (in

increasing order) were Ra, Ve, Mo, Ju and the malefics from

the least to the worst were Ke, Su, Ma, Sa. Me was neutral.

Now we adjust the benefics and malefics based on these

Green and Red buttons. More Green than Red means that

planet becomes more benefic – that is, moves to the left on

the chart. On the other hand, planets with more Red than

Green move to the right on the chart – they decrease their

beneficence and become more malefic. And here we are…

In the case of your friend, Mo is hugely benefic and

reasonably strong. Ju is very benefic, but is marginally weak.

Ve and Ra are moderately benefic, but Ve has good

strength. Mo is by far the biggest positive influence; we call

Mo in this case as a yogakaraka – one who signifies positive

things. Su and Ke are neutral, but Su is quite strong. On the

debit side, Me, Ma and Sa are moderately malefic, but they

are all weak too. So, at first glance the positives seem to

outweigh the negatives.

S Very impressive, I must say. I have never seen it presented so

colorfully before.

B Thank you, though this is just the packaging. The next time

we will unwrap this to see what is inside.

S Next time?

B I am afraid I need to leave now. But why don’t you come

over to my place for dinner next week and we can dissect

your friend’s horoscope. All right?

Day 4

Setting: The duo with cups of postprandial coffee in their hands.

S That was a very nice meal, I must say. You do cook well.

B Thanks. And you?

S Tea, instant noodles, an omelet, that’s it. Surely, you can tell by

looking at my horoscope.

B Ha, who was scared of letting me take a look at it? But let’s

settle with your friend first, shall we? And since I know

nothing of her, I need you to help me out here.

S At your service, ma’am.

B Very funny. OK, we are going to start with the houses. Each

house represents different traits of an individual. We shall list

the things that each house stands for and simultaneously

evaluate the house in your friend’s case. For each house, we

are going to look at 5 factors – the lord and its position, the

occupants, those who aspect the house, planets that may

flank the house, and the signifier for that attribute.

S All this seems so complicated. Don’t tell me you have to do all

this work each time you read a horoscope. I thought astrologers

could just take a look and know all.

B Are you feeling facetious after a full meal or what? Of course,

it is hard work. What we have done so far is the objective

part of astrology – it’s like gathering data from an

experiment. Soon we shall come to the subjective part –

making sense of that data and drawing reasonable

conclusions. It’s actually fun, so stop being a drag and come

along.

S Oh, well. Guess I am stuck with this for the evening anyway.

B Don’t pretend, I know you are dying to find out. We’ll start

with Houses 1, 5 and 9. These represent the soul, mind and

body, respectively – the three aspects of an individual. They

also represent the self, the children, and the father,

respectively. You see, each house can represent different

things, so we need to carefully evaluate the various factors.

For example, the 5th is common for mind and children, but

the signifiers for mind (Mo) and children (Ju) are different.

So, let’s fill in this chart for your friend. The Green bullets are

positives, the Red ones are negatives. And I have inked in a

tentative conclusion for each house.

Set I Lord Occupant Aspect Flanking Signifier

House 1 Atma (the soul), self, character,

personality

Weak Ma in the 8

th

None None None Su for soul

(atma), leadership (political)

The house is clean and Su is strong = good soul. But lord is weak and ill-placed = flaw in character.

House 5 Bhagya

(fortune), the mind, children

Marginally weak Ju ill-placed in the 6

th

10th

lord Su and 8

th, 11

th

lord Me, malefic

None Benefic Mo,Ve

and benefic

Ju

Ju for progeny

Mo for mind

(emotion, romance)

Ju is negative as lord and signifier, Su and 8th

lord Me present = difficult childbirth, loss of child. With

strong Mo = good mind, but temperamental/ high strung due to Me, Su. Both + and - = mixed fortunes.

House 9 Dharma

(righteousness), the body, religious devotion,

father, long journeys (usually

associated with pilgrimages in

the past)

Strong Mo well-placed in

the 4th

Malefic 3

rd, 4

th

lord Sa

None None Su for father

Ju for

leadership (spiritual, religious)

Mo for

the seas (as in

journeys overseas)

Strong, well-placed Mo dominates = sound body, overseas journeys. With strong Su = positive for

father. But with marginally weak Ju = not particularly religious/ spiritual. Malefic Sa = something negative

about either body or father or beliefs.

S Why tentative?

B Because we also need to cross-check with the timing. For

instance, one may suggest a good likelihood of childbirth,

but if the periods of the helpful planets occur either too

early in life or too late, then it is no good.

S OK, the hyper part matches sure enough, but she can be really

sweet when she wants to.

B Wait there’s more to come. Let’s look at the houses 4, 7, 10

next – 4 is for what you come into this world with, 7 for what

you acquire in this life, and 10 is for what you leave behind

when you are gone. Here are the details and the chart filled

in…

Set II Lord Occupant Aspect Flanking Signifier

House 4 Prosperity,

state of mind (peace &

happiness), ancestral property, mother,

education

Weak Sa well-

placed in the 9

th

Hugely benefic 9

th lord

Mo with benefic 7

th, 12

th

lord Ve

None None Mo for mother

Ju for

education

Strong, highly benefic Mo totally dominates, in a rajayoga with Ve = positive for childhood, mother. With marginally weak Ju = decent education, but not great.

House 7 Vyavahara

(acquisitions, material gains), health, bodily

pleasures, spouse,

marital life, earnings

Very strong lord Ve

well-placed in

the 4th

with Mo

None None Neutral Ke and malefic

Ma

Ve for spouse, bodily

pleasures

Strong, benefic combination of Ve, Mo = romantic, enjoys physical pleasures and comforts of life, marries for love, successful marriage. But malefic Ma = affects

married life.

House 10 Karma

(deeds), body of work,

profession, name & honors

Strong Su well-placed in

the 5th

with

weak 8th

and 11

th

lord Me

None Benefics Mo, Ve,

Ju

None Ju for wisdom

(philosophy)

Me for commerce

(as in business/

trade)

Ra for discovery/ invention

Strong Su and aspect of 3 benefics = good deeds, professionally successful. But weak Ju, Me = not

intellectual or commercial profession.

S OK, some of that rings true, but it all seems so general. Can’t

you pin it down more specifically? And what is a rajayoga?

B Not bad though for someone I have never met, isn’t it?

Actually, the purpose of this exercise is to help the person

build on their strengths and reduce losses due to their

weaknesses. For instance, the same Ma that hints at a minor

defect in her personality in house 1 also affects her married

life in house 7. If she can identify this, she can work on it to

improve herself and her life. But I will be able to tell you

something more definite when we start looking at the

various periods. Just hang on. Next, on to houses 2, 8 and

11…

Set III Lord Occupant Aspect Flanking Signifier

House 2 Wealth

(unearned), family,

creative abilities

Marginally weak Ju ill-placed in the 6

th

None Very benefic

Ju

Malefic Ma

None Ve for creativity

Ju

Dominated by middling Ju = average family background. Malefic Ma = affects family life. Strong Ve =

hard to determine area of creativity but not science or philosophy.

House 8 Longevity,

death, legacies, disgrace

Weak Me ill-placed in the 5

th

with Su

Malefic Ma

None None Sa for low

status

All indications negative = doubtful longevity, possible nervous debility/ heartbreak.

House 11 Non-material gains, friends, elder siblings, accomplishme

nts

Weak Me well-

placed in the 5

th

with Su

None Su, Me, Ma, Sa

all malefic

None Ma for siblings

Ju

Me not strong enough to overturn other malefics = largely negative, doesn’t gain much from friends, elder

siblings.

Ah, the rajayoga – it is a powerful, beneficial combination of

planets that does much good. For instance, the combination

of 9th lord Mo and 7th lord Ve is a rajayoga; it greatly

enhances the 4th house which they occupy and the 10th

which they aspect. Likewise, the exchange of houses

between the 9th lord Mo and 4th lord Sa is also a powerful

yoga.

S Aw! This lot did not turn out as good as some of the previous

houses.

B Yes, that’s how it’s going to be for most of us; some good,

some bad. We try to maximize gains from our strengths and

minimize losses due to our weaknesses. The key houses are

the 1st, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th which we examined earlier. Nearly

all of them are pretty good in her case, except for the 5th and

the presence of the 1st lord Ma in the 8th house.

Unfortunately, Ju is not pulling weight and Me is weak –

those are the big negatives. Let’s round this up with the last

set of three houses.

Set IV Lord Occupant Aspect Flanking

Signifier

House 3 Intelligence,

younger siblings,

courage, loss of inherited

wealth

Weak Sa well placed in the

9th

None Malefics Ma, Sa

None Me for intelligence,

speech

Ma for aggression,

younger siblings, courage

All the players are weak = loses due to lack of diplomacy and verbal aggression.

House 6 Debts,

disease, enemies, generally material losses

Weak Ma

well-placed in the

8th

Very benefic Ju and neutral

Ke

Malefic Sa

None Sa for misfortune (injuries, sorrows)

Ra for

affliction (accidents)

Ke for

lies/deception

Benefic Ju = generally assures good health, finances and no enemies; losses, if any, are self-inflicted.

House 12 Moksha

(liberation of the soul),

spirituality (as in

Very strong

Ve well-

placed with

Mildly benefic

Ra

Benefic Ju

None Sa for evil (purpose, thinking)

Ke for the spiritual,

renunciation), residence

abroad (as in banishment),

misery, generally

non-material losses

Mo in the 4

th

release of the soul (moksha)

Ra for alien

(culture, religion)

Largely positive = Free from evil, may embrace foreign customs/ religion. Good combination of 9

th and 12

th

lords suggests travel abroad for work/ leisure, even marriage.

S You know, that didn’t turn out very badly at all. In fact, I am

quite impressed. I feel I can piece together all this and fashion

something pretty close to the original character.

B Thank you, that’s very kind of you. And now it’s getting

pretty late, so it’s time for you to be heading home.

S Hey! Wait a minute. I was just warming up…

B Right. That’s exactly what I am worried about…

S So, what happened to the predictions?

B Call me another day. In the meanwhile, you can get this

information for me.

Day 5

The pair comfortably seated in a cozy nook of his club.

S I hope the meal was satisfactory.

B Satisfactory? It was awesome. I can’t believe you dine like

this every day. How can you afford an expensive club like

this?

S Not every day, only on special occasions. And you are right, I

couldn’t afford it but it comes with the job. Part of the perks.

B Gosh! What kind of a job do you actually do?

S I design thingies in which you burn kerosene, you know.

B What? Like those cooking stoves we used to have ages ago?

Come on, you are pulling my leg.

S Well, not exactly those kinds of stoves, perhaps a little larger.

And you wouldn’t exactly use these for cooking, but I guess the

principle’s the same. Anyway, here’s the information you asked

for.

B Thanks, I need this to make “predictions.”

S What is this? It looks like a railway timetable. I assumed you

would use the present position of the planets to make

predictions.

B Those are the transits, they are of minor significance.

Imagine driving from Place A to Place B on the freeway and

you change lanes a few times along the way. The lane

changes are like the transits – they happen, but they mean

nothing; it’s the transport from A to B that matters.

S Aren’t all the astrological columns in the newspapers based on

transits?

B Yes, they are, and did you notice they are placed with the

comics?

S And how about those books that claim to predict your year

ahead? Also transits?

B I would suppose so and they should be placed in the fiction

section at the book stores.

S And you have a prediction method that works?

B It’s not mine; it’s something unique to the

Indian system of astrology and is called the

dasa or period. Every planet is given a certain

number of years and these periods run

cyclically in the sequence as shown here. It

totals up to 120 years. The starting point on

this cycle for a horoscope is determined by the

position of the Mo on the ecliptic. In the case

of your friend, the “railway timetable” shows

that she was born about 3 years into the dasa

of Ju, so she got nearly 13 years of the 16 years

allotted to Ju. This was followed by 19 years of

Sa, and now is the 17-year period of Me.

S This seems so arbitrary.

B True, we do not know how this arrangement came about.

Interestingly the 18-year period given to Ra matches closely

with the time taken by it to make a lap of the ecliptic (18.5

years as we have seen before). But there is no similar

correlation for the other planets.

S Fine. Each entry in the “railway timetable” has two planets, like

Ju/Sa. What does that mean?

B Within the dasa of each planet, the periods of all the planets

cycle – these are called the sub-periods. So, for instance, the

Sa period starts with the sub-period of Sa (written as Sa/Sa)

followed by that of Me (that is, Sa/Me), and so on. These

sub-periods are calculated on a pro rata basis – that is,

during the Sa period, the sub-period of each planet is equal

Planet Dasa (Period)

Su 6 years

Mo 10 years

Ma 7 years

Ra 18 years

Ju 16 years

Sa 19 years

Me 17 years

Ke 7 years

Ve 20 years

to 19/120 times its planetary period. There’s some math for

you. Happy?

S Now you are going to say that Sa for my friend is malefic and

weak, so the 19 years of Sa period are going to be bad for her.

Right?

B Wrong! It’s a little more complicated than that.

See, I have put down in this diagram the

various roles Sa plays in her horoscope. The

helpful ones are in Green and the harmful ones

are in Red. The neutral or minor ones are in

Black. Sa mainly helps in 4, 9 – so, that’s good

for mother, education, domestic life, father,

body, religious devotion. But Sa also has a

negative impact on 9, plus is not being helpful

for 6 – so a slight issue with health/body

perhaps. And, by its aspect on Ju, it affects 2

and 5. Importantly the exchange between Sa

and Mo brings the latter into the picture

indirectly – that is shown in a separate, linked

box. Mo further helps 4 and certain aspects of

9 (overseas travel), overpowers Sa on 12, and

aids in 5 (mind) and 10. Summing up all this,

one can make some inference about influences

on her life in this period.

S Can you, for instance, predict anything about her marriage in

this period?

B In Sa period? Let’s try… but remember, we

cannot predict what she would do, we can only

deduce the possibilities and their times. First

we look back at our analysis of the houses and

write down the planets that have a benefic

influence on the 7th house and those that have

a malefic effect. The biggest plus is obviously

Ve, lord and signifier, and with it is yogakaraka

Mo who is very benefic. On the minus side are

Ma and Ke. As for Sa himself, we have seen

that he does not have a direct impact on the

7th house. He is linked to Mo and that has an

association with Ve, but that may be a bit

tenuous. With that, let us examine the various

sub-periods in Sa dasa as shown here. The

periods boxed in Red are ruled out as being

too early or undesirable. The ones circled in

Green are preferable, either would be a

romantic alliance. But the good work can be

undone by discord in Sa/Ma period. Otherwise,

the back-up can be the sub-period of Ra which

takes its benefic nature from being in the

house of Ve, but then the advantage of the Ve-

Mo combination is lost. Ra also suggests an

unconventional marriage in terms of nationality

or religion or culture, and possibly one based

less on romance and more on other factors.

S That is astonishingly close, and the way you put it, it all sounds

so obvious. Is this all there is to it, or are you holding something

back from me?

B Of course, I haven’t revealed everything to you – that

wouldn’t be good for my business, would it? But barring

some finer corrections and a few complications, this is the

gist. Now what are you holding back from me?

S Nothing much. We had a good thing going but it didn’t work

out.

B I am sorry to hear that, but don’t tell me you have been

mooning over her ever since.

S No, I plunged myself in work and have done very well for

myself, as you can see. Besides, this is not about any individual,

this is about the principles. I am still curious to see how you can

make a prediction about the future.

B Right. How about considering the Me/Ve period? Fine, here

we go. I filled in this chart for you. On one side are all the

influences of Me, on the other are the effects of Ve. To this,

we also need to add the roles played by Ve when we

consider a Me-centric point of view. Of course, Ve continues

to be very strong as we determined right at the beginning

for this horoscope. But with respect to Me being in house

number 1, Ve owns houses 3 and 8 which are negative, so he

at best becomes neutral. Further, Ve is placed in the 12th

house from Me in the company of 5th lord Mo – that does

not help Ve, rather it negatively affects Mo. This information

is added at the top of the chart.

S And now can you please make sense of this chart for me?

B Isn’t it obvious? Take a look at the circled

numbers. For example, Me affects the 10th lord Su,

hence is negative for profession – the damage

should have happened early in Me dasa. But Ve

(with Mo) has a beneficial aspect on the 10th, so

we can expect a professional recovery which may

become fully apparent in the succeeding Su sub-

period. Next, Me as 8th lord is not helpful to the 8th

house, so Me dasa can bring in news of death. But

Ve has a beneficial influence on the 8th, so at least

the Ve sub-period may be without losses on that

front. Then, Me is a bad influence on the 5th, so

this period is not positive for childbirth. Here Ve as

8th lord from Me, in the 12th house, afflicts 5th lord

Mo – again a negative. So I would not recommend

trying to conceive a child during this period. And

so on… Remember, none of this will happen – they

are likely. It is up to the individual to make it

happen or not.

S How does it help someone to know all this? To borrow your

medical analogy, it’s like going to a doctor who tells you about

your disease but offers you no cure.

B Yes, that is a valid observation. But in this case the “cure” lies

with oneself. Forewarned, one can plan one’s life

accordingly. For instance, if there is a danger to profession,

one can consciously try to steer clear of any unpleasant

situation at work. Or if the period is known to be not

conducive for childbirth, one can avoid the pain, or decide to

adopt a child.

S Don’t you have simpler solutions – a religious offering, or a

pilgrimage, or a gemstone?

B There’s no dearth of tricksters and charlatans who offer you

these “services.” I wouldn’t want to add to their ilk. There is

no connection whatsoever between astrology and religion.

Yet I guess people who face trouble in their lives are willing

to give anything a shot, no matter how irrational it may

seem.

S Don’t you think these quacks give astrology a bad name?

B Sure, they do. Sadly the alternatives are few, so these cheats

have a field day. A seller’s market, I think you would call it.

Until we have a system where a person can walk into a

hospital or a clinic and meet a rational astrologer, the same

as meeting a dentist or a psychiatrist, we will have this huge

unregulated grey market.

S And you are doing your bit to rectify the situation?

B Not really. I do this because I find it enjoyable and satisfying.

I don’t offer any magic potions. I dig for the truth –

somewhat like a detective.

S And what kind of truths do you uncover, Hercule Poirot?

B I love those stories, don’t you? Well, here’s a recent example

– nothing as exciting, but real life. One of my friends, a

counselor at the university, was dealing with a student who

had complained of sexual harassment, but she wasn’t

entirely convinced. A look at her horoscope with a close

conjunction of Mo and Ra suggested psychological issues.

That prompted my friend to refer her to a shrink who

diagnosed her with low self-esteem problems. Apparently,

she told lies to gain sympathy, and they were able to

discover previous incidents of a similar nature involving her.

Though I didn’t make any money on this, I felt good that I

could save an innocent person whose career might have

been finished unfairly.

S But you can’t live on feel-good, can you?

B Oh, don’t worry. I make enough to sustain myself. You have

no idea of the number of people facing myriad problems,

none of which can even be approached by modern science.

S I guess astrologers make their killing in the matrimonial market.

B You mean matching horoscopes of the bride and the

groom? I don’t do that; don’t believe in it. Why that

astonished look? Those rules were made eons ago when a

patriarchal society preferred a bride who would serve her

husband until his death, deliver many sons, live peacefully in

an extended family, and so on. Yeah, yeah… I know things

are not far better in many parts of the world even today. But

since I won’t marry by those rules, I shouldn’t advise anyone

else to do so either.

S You mean that astrology has no role to play in the modern

marriage?

B No, I didn’t say that. To me, it would primarily depend on my

comfort level with the other person. But, you know, people

do put on their best behavior at those times. So, as a

secondary check, I would certainly scan his horoscope to

look for danger signs.

S Such as?

B An affliction of Mo by Ra (mental issues), a bad combination

of Ve and Ma (sexual extravagance), or a weak Ju (no high

thinking)…

S Gosh! And how many people have failed Level 2, if I may ask?

B Actually, not many have gotten that far, but I have a good

one in hand now. Ju, Mo in conjunction, which is a powerful

yoga; close conjunction of Ve-Me, which suggests a creative,

scientific mind; and the two pairs in mutual aspect without

any malefic influence – makes them all strong and benefic.

S Oh! I am happy for you. I was going to ask if you would care to

be the navigator of my car…

B Sure, that’s no problem.

S Uh, not professionally… I mean, personally.

B Is that a proposal?

S Well, it would have been, except… you seem to have already

found your soul-mate.

B Well, then I accept!

S What?

B That horoscope – it’s yours!

THE END